Take Me Away
by DiscordianSamba
Summary: AU. Samantha Manson is sick of her overbearing parents and decides to run away and is taken in by the Fentons for the time being. When she meets a mysterious ghost, she starts to get caught up in his shadowed past... Some DxS
1. The Stray

AN: This'll proboly be one of my darker AU stories. Yes, I have no life, which is why I can write so much. That, and I'm obessive-compulsive so once I get going, it's hard to stop. I practiclly had to drag myself away from the keyboard last night so I could sleep.

Danny Phantom doesn't belong to me, but the villans in this story do! And now we must pummel the villans with fruit, because they're evil and do mean stuff to Danny! LANUCH THE FRUIT!

Take Me Away

Chapter One: The Stray

Samantha Manson, age 15, stormed out of her house, slamming the door to it hard behind her. She stomped down the steps, slinging a stuffed violet bookbag over her arms.

"_Samantha MANSON! COME BACK HERE THIS INSTANT!"_ From behind her, her parents came out of the door, both shouting at her at the top of their lungs. Sam turned back and glared at them.

"And go back to being your little rag doll? No, I don't think so. This is goodbye, Mother, Father." She turned around and quickly ran off, giving her parents no chance to follow. Today was the day she was going to leave her old life behind and start a new one. One that was her own, rather than her parents'. They were always trying to force Sam into doing things she didn't want too, trying to mold her into a miniature mirror of themselves. She couldn't _stand _that. It had gotten even worse after her grandmother died. Eventually, she had enough, and decided to just run away. Starving in the streets was better than being someone's life-size Barbie.

She ran for a few more blocks, until she thought she was safe from pursuit. She looked around, checking out the nearest street signs in order to help her determine her position. Before she left, she had studied a map of her hometown thoroughly. She remembered the entire city layout.

"Spurce and Tin Street..." She mumbled, looking at the signs. "And I need to get to Hamburg Street, where the bus station is...So I should take a right, then a left, then another left, then another right..." She nodded to herself and headed off down the street. She was planning on getting on a bus to Amity Park, a town about 200 miles away. Her parents would _never _look there. Plus, she could meet up with the girl she had been talking to for the past two years on the Internet-one Jasmine Fenton. She had no doubts that she and her family would take her in.

(Meanwhile, 200 miles away)

Jasmine Fenton, age 18, was sitting at her computer, staring at it very closely. She had received an e-mail overnight from her friend, Sam of Huntstown. "She's running away? Normally I'd disapprove but...knowing the circumstances, I can't say I blame her. It _would _be nice to have a little sister...always wanted a younger sibling around the house." Jazz smiled to herself.

"Jazz? Why did you call us up here?" Her mother, Maddie Fenton, and her father, Jack Fenton peeked in the door.

"Oh, hi mom, hi dad. Come in!" She swiveled around in her chair as her parents entered. "I wanted to talk to you about something..." Jazz told them about her friend, choosing her words carefully. If there was one thing she had learned from reading psychology books all the time, it was how to know what kind of speech would affect people. As she, expected, her speech had the desired effect.

"Why, of course we wouldn't mind! I must admit, I've been secretly dying to meet your friend in person." Her mother smiled at her.

"And I can blather on to her about ghosts!" Her father pronounced loudly, beaming. _Good thing I warned Sam about that, _Jazz thought. "Oh, right, and before I forget, you need to take out the trash in the lab!" Jazz moaned but she went and did it anyways.

"Phew...I don't even want to know what's in here to cause it to smell so bad." The red-head picked up the trash bag, holding it as far away from herself as possible. She headed out to the trash cans outside and quickly dumped it in. She closed the lid, then blinked. She thought she had seen someone out of the corner of her eye. She turned and looked, catching a brief glimpse of a white-haired form...then nothing. She scratched her head. "I must be staring at those textbooks for too long...It's starting to mess up my vision." The teen shook her head, heading back inside.

Jazz hadn't been seeing things. Hiding on the roof of the house now was a thin white-haired teen. He rubbed his arms a bit, his hand running over scars that had stayed with him, even after death.

"Why am I here...?" He mumbled to himself, his bright green eyes narrowing in thought. He was wearing a torn up black t-shirt, with equally wreaked black jeans. It was clear that his life, when he had it, was not a pleasant one. It wasn't something he liked to think about. After his death, however, he found himself drawn to this house and the people here, even though he wasn't quite sure why. It puzzled him. Why would a ghost, such as himself, be drawn to the house of ghost hunters? It didn't make any sense, and yet, here he was.

So far he head been too nervous to approach any of them, always watching from afar. Sometimes he built up enough courage to try and talk to the girl with orange hair, Jazz he knew her name was, but every time he fled before she saw him. Today he had come really, really close but chickened out at the very last minute. Now he sat, leaning over the side of the roof, looking out on the street.

Ghosts all come from people with unfinished business. Probably no ghost had more unfinished business than the one here. He didn't even have a name for himself-not because he couldn't remember, but because he hadn't been given one in his life. He had always been referred to as Patient Number 326. What had happened to the other 325, he never wanted to know. Considering his miserable life growing up, he was actually happy when he realized he was dying. Coming back as a ghost gave him a taste of something he never had before-freedom.

He just wasn't quite sure what to do with it.

"Hm?" he leaned over the railing a bit. A young girl was walking towards the house, one he'd never seen before. "Wow...she's really cute..."

Meanwhile, the girl below him pulled out a slip of paper from her pack, checking the address. "Yeah...this is the one." She started to go up to the door, when she felt an oddly cold presence around her. It was still the middle of summer, so it was really bizarre. She looked around, a splash of white catching her eye. She looked up towards the roof and found herself staring eye-to-eye with a strange white-haired boy. His eyes were a bright green, a small scar curling around the top corner of his right. He jumped back with a start, quickly disappearing from sight.

Sam frowned. She hadn't heard Jazz mention anything about there being a boy living here. She frowned and went to peek in the ally by the house, going as quietly as she could. Sure enough the boy had come down here. She hid behind the dumpster, watching him, taking a good look at him. She frowned. He seemed to be covered with scars, a few injection marks here and there. Not something you see everyday. He was looking around, obviously debating between staying where he was and running away.

_Maybe I should talk to him..._Sam thought, stepping quietly out from behind the dumpster. "Um...hello there?"

The boy whipped around, quickly, eyes widened with shock. He shifted his weight to one foot, obviously prepared to flee. Sam held up her hand.

"No, wait, please!" The boy paused. "Don't go..."

"Who...who are you?"

"I'm Sam...Who are you?"

The boy frowned, his eyebrows knitting together in thought. "I'm...I uh...well..." He was obviously groping for an answer, "I'm...not exactly sure."

"You don't know your name?" The boy shook his head. Sam caught notice of a black bandage covering up his left eye. _How odd..._She thought. "How come?"

The boy gulped, looking around. "Um...I...I should go..." Before Sam could protest, the boy was gone, turning around the corner of the house. Sam quickly followed him, but she ran into a dead end. In front of her was a brick wall.

"Where did he go?" She sighed. "Maybe he'll be back..." She definitely wanted to talk to this boy now, more than ever. She headed back to the front door, knocking on it.

She didn't notice that across the way, someone was watching her and the boy. He pulled up a cell phone, flipping it open, pressing a button on it, automatically calling his employer.

"Boss...I think we found him. Our little stray..."


	2. Discoveries in the Attic

AN: Yay for Chapter Two! Danny Phantom doesn't belong to me, but this story does! Steal from me, and I will eat your souuuullllll. As for having Sam pick locks in this episode, as we can recall from "Secret Weapons" Sam could pick the lock of the locker Tucker was trapped in quite easily, leading me to believe she can pick locks for some odd reason.

Take Me Away

Chapter Two: Discoveries in the Attic

15-year Samantha Manson knocked on the door of the Fenton household. Her mind was still on the strange boy she had just met moments ago, but she knew that standing outside all day wouldn't do any good for the reason she came here, either. _I'll ask Jazz about it once I get settled in_...Sam thought.

The door opened and from it emerged one of the _largest _men Sam had ever seen. Her eyes widened. _Geez...Jazz wasn't kidding about him being huge! _"Um...hi? I'm...Samantha Manson?"

"Sam! Good to see you! Come on in!" Not letting her say another word, he grabbed onto her wrist and practically dragged her into the living room, where Maddie and Jazz were waiting.

"Sam!" The red-headed teen grinned, shooting a glare at her father. "Dad, you can let go of her wrist now." Her father let go of Sam's wrist. She rubbed it a bit, Jack had a strong grip.

"Sam! It's so wonderful to finally meet you!" A women wearing an aqua jumpsuit grinned, coming up from behind Jazz. She took Sam's other hand and shook it. "I've heard so much about you! It's going to be wonderful having you around for the summer!"

"So...I can stay?"

"Of course, sweetie!"

Sam smiled to herself. "So, where's my room then?" Jazz thought.

"Well, there's either the abandoned room on the second floor, or the attic guest bedroom. I'm not sure why it's in the attic though...I suppose the one on the second floor would be better."

"She can't have it."

Jazz blinked, turning to her mother, who had a sour look on her face. "But...you said..."

"I said she could stay. She just can't stay in _that _room. The attic bedroom will be fine." Jazz sighed. She knew better than to argue with her mother when she used that kind of tone.

"The attic bedroom sounds a little neater, to be honest. Care you show me upstairs Jazz?" the gothic teen looked at her friend, who nodded, escorting Sam upstairs. Jazz reached for the line to pull down the attic stairs, giving it a good yank. The stairs came down slowly, opening up the passageway to the attic. "Why are your parents so touchy about that room anyways?"

Jazz shrugged. "It beats me. They've never even let me go in it."

"Huh..." Sam said, looking up at the attic stairs. "Oh, that reminds me...Right before I came here, I met this really strange boy around your house. He was on your roof, actually." Jazz raised an eyebrow. "He had white hair and glowing green eyes. Well, one was actually covered by a bandage but..." Sam trailed off a bit, then regained her train of thought. "He was wearing ratty black clothing and was practically covered head to toe in scars. I tired to ask him what his name was, but he said he didn't know what it was. Then he ran away and I followed him, but there was a brick wall there...and he was gone." Jazz frowned.

_White hair? _She thought, remembering the flash of white she had seen earlier, when taking out the garbage. "I don't know anyone like that..." _Could it have been a ghost? _Jazz almost smacked herself mentally. _Of course not! It must have just been some poor kid...but then, how could he disappear through a brick wall? _She shook her head.

"You okay, Jazz?"

"Yeah...just thinking. Come on, I'll help you unpack." She lead the younger girl up into the attic, turning on the attic light. It was a fairly big attic, with plenty of space to stand up straight in when you were in the middle of the room. In the middle of the room was a single-person bed, covered in black sheets, a fine layer of dust collecting on them. There was even a bathroom there. Towards the corners of the attic there was a large trunk, also covered with a layer of dust. "Man...I haven't been up here in years..."

"What's that trunk?" Sam pointed at it, after she had put her backpack down. Jazz looked at it.

"I don't know. It's locked and I don't know where the key is." She blinked as she watched Sam pull a hairpin from her backpack and twisted the metal pole.

"What? I'm curious and it's _my _room now." Jazz had to admit, she was a bit curious too. She remembered when she had asked her parents about the trunk as a child. They had stared at her coldly and told her never to ask about it again. She now watched as her gothic friend put the hairpin in the lock, listening closely. Jazz shut the attic door behind her and came over to her friend, waiting.

The lock snapped free after a minute and Sam pulled the trunk open. The trunk was surprisingly empty, despite it's size. Inside it were a few papers, two hospital bands, and a handful of photos. Jazz pulled out one of the photos, looking at it, puzzled.

"That's strange...Mom has a baby in this picture...but I'm in it too..." Sam pulled out one of the papers in the trunk.

"It's a birth certificate for a Daniel Fenton." Sam raised her eyebrow. "You had a little brother?" Jazz shook her head, confused.

"No...I didn't." Sam pulled out another paper, a newspaper clipping. Her eyes narrowed.

"This should explain it then..." She handed the clipping to Jazz, who read it. It was a missing persons ad.

_Missing: Daniel Fenton, 9 months old, kidnapped from his home on Monday, May 11th. If any information is known about his whereabouts, please contact Jack and Maddie Fenton at 642-9583._

"I...had a brother?"

"Yes...you did." The two girls turned around. They hadn't even noticed Maddie come in. She stared at the two sadly. "We always meant to tell you about him Jazz..."

Jazz stared at her mother. "Then...that room downstairs..."

"Was supposed to be your brother's room." Maddie frowned. "He was only a baby when he was kidnapped. You don't remember him, because you were still young yourself, Jazz. We looked everywhere, put ads in all the local papers, and even hired a private investigator. No sign of him ever turned up. There was no ransom for him either, so we have no idea what could have happened to him..." The women looked like she was on the brink of tears. "He's probably dead by now..." She sniffed, wiping a stray tear from her eye.

Sam bit her lip. She had obviously brought up something she shouldn't have and she was feeling guilty for it. "I'm sorry Mrs. Fenton...I went to far. I...I shouldn't have pried..." Maddie shook her head.

"No...it's allright...This was something I should have told Jazz years ago anyways..." Suddenly, a small cylindrical device on Maddie's waist started to beep, her eyes narrowing. "...girls...there's a ghost in here..." She cast her eyes around the room, her tears forgotten for that moment. Defending her living child and her friend was much more important than dwelling on the past. She drew from her belt a small ectoplasm-firing pistol.

"Come out, ghost...If you don't mean anyone any harm, I'll let you on your way...But if you don't..." She trailed off, having no real need to say what would happen to it. A gulping sound came from one of the darker corners of the room.

"I'm...sorry?" Sam's eyes widened, she recognized that voice. Sure enough, peeping his head out of the shadows was the boy she had met before.

"Is that him?" Jazz whispered to her, Sam nodded. _I don't believe it...he's a ghost...Well, that does explain a few things..._

_A ghost? But that...that's not possible! All my evidence suggests that the existence of an actual ghost would be impossible! And yet, here's one, standing right in front of me!_

"State your name and reason for being here." Maddie said slowly, still holding the pistol in place. There was something about that ghost...

"I...I don't know...I'm sorry..." The boy looked down at the ground, rubbing his scarred arms. Maddie frowned, lowering her pistol.

"You don't know why you're here?" The boy shook his head, not looking up.

"I was just...drawn here."

_Drawn here..._Maddie thought. _All ghosts have unfinished business, and they're usually drawn towards the place where they...have the...most..._ Her eyes widened. _And the only person I can think of having unfinished business here would be..._

"Danny...?"


	3. Reunion

AN: Chapter Three! I started crying when I was writing this. I am such a big baby about stuff like this! The ending part should give you a very, very big clue on who the head villain is. Orgianlly, I wasn't going to include the villain that I have now chosen, but I decided it would be much more interesting if I did.

Danny Phantom doesn't belong to me. I mean, seriously, if it belonged to me, you'd see my name in the credits!

Take Me Away

Chapter Three: Reunion

_"Danny?"_

Jazz and Sam stared at the jumpsuit-clad women, then turned back to the ghostly teenager, who seemed confused, rubbing his arms. Jazz recognized it as a self-conscious maneuver-he was clearly nervous and frightened.

"I... that... is that... my name?" He mumbled, peering at the group from behind his hair. "Did I... use to live here?" His voice cracked a bit as he spoke.

Maddie slowly walked over to the boy. His eyes widened and he stumbled back a bit, his body tensing up. Maddie stopped and bit her lip. _He's not going to let me close to him..._She frowned.

"It's okay... I'm not going to hurt you... You can come out..." She said soothingly, her voice quiet. The boy hesitated and stepped back out a bit, nervously. "That's right... That's good..." She said, in a way that was similar to how you get nervous animals to let you see them. "I'm going to come a little bit closer now, okay?" The boy nodded slowly and Maddie took another few steps forward.

Jazz and Sam watched the exchange, thoughts flying through both of their heads.

_Could that actually be my lost little brother? What's mom thinking? What has this poor kid gone through anyways... he's a wreck... _Jazz frowned, staring at the boy. _Little brother or not, whoever had the nerve to do that to him is going to pay, one way or the other! People like that are the worst._

_Wow... only eight minutes in this house, and it's already a lot more interesting than where I used to live. Is that ghost really Jazz's little brother? It makes sense, I suppose, when you consider that ghosts tend to return to the place where they have the most regrets. Even subconsciously, what would a kid regret more than never being able to live a real life? He must've suffered horribly in life..._ Sam stared at him, sympathetically. _...Makes all my problems seem a little selfish..._

"I'm going to come over to you now. Is that okay?" Maddie spoke, still in a soothing voice. He nodded again. Maddie took a few more baby steps forward until she stood in front of him. She kneeled down a bit, because she was taller than him. "Is it okay if I touch you?" The boy heisted, his eyes darting about the room, then slowly nodded. Maddie reached out gently, her hand touching his right shoulder, where there was a tear in the fabric of his T-shirt, exposing a scar. The boy trembled at the touch, tensing up, as if he wanted to flee. "I promise I wont hurt you..."

The boy nodded slowly, still nervous. "I need you to tell me something, okay?" He nodded again. "On the back of your neck... do you have... a birthmark?" The boy blinked, thinking back, then slowly nodded again. Maddie sighed, giving a weak smile. "You really are-"

"MADDIE! WHERE'S THE GHOST?" Jack Fenton bust through the attic door, holding the Fenton Bazooka. "I'll send that sucker back to the Ghost Zone, right where it came from!" The boy's eyes widened and he hid behind Maddie, clinging to one of her hands. "Don't think you can hide behind my wife, you creep!"

"Jack, no! Put the weapon down!" Maddie shouted, "He's not going to hurt us!"

"But..."

"No buts. Put it down, or you'll send your own son away!" Jack stared at her blankly, then looked at the trembling ghost. He had his eyes shut tight, grasping with all his might onto Maddie's hand. Jack slowly lowered his weapon and put it down on the ground.

"What's this about Maddie? Your saying this ghost is our son?"

"That's _exactly _what I'm saying."

"Did you check for the birthmark?" His wife nodded at him.

"...I almost shot my own son!" Jack practically smacked himself. Actually, he _did _smack himself. The boy slowly peeked out from behind Maddie, the death grip he had on her hand slowly loosening, now that the weapon was gone. Jack moaned. "Maddie, remind me never to hit myself again. It's really painful."

"...is it true...?" The assembled group blinked, turning to the boy. He hadn't spoken a word for awhile. "Is this... this where I was born...? And that name... That-That's my name... right?"

"Well, actually, you were born in a hospital, but then we took you home to here!" Jack said, proudly, already forgetting the pain of his aching face. Danny's eyes shot up at the mention of the word hospitals.

"I hate hospitals!" He yelled, eyes welded shut, like a child. The group was sightly taken aback, they definitely hadn't expected him to shout.

"I'm sorry... We didn't mean to bring something like that up..." Maddie petted the boy's trembling head, running her hands through the white locks of his hair. Her hand brushed up against the bandage on his left eye. "...Danny... what's this for?" She moved to peel it off but Danny quickly moved from her grasp. She frowned. "You can show us...Come on." But Danny only shook his head fiercely.

Jazz got up from her sitting position and slowly moved over to the boy. _He's really my brother? Oh, I'm definitely going to make the lives of the people who did this to him hell now. I swear it, on my psychology textbooks!_ She leaned down a bit, facing the boy.

"Who... are you?" He mumbled out. Jazz smiled at him.

"My name is Jasmine. You can call my Jazz though, little brother..." She said. "If you want to talk... you can always come to me... I'll listen to everything you have to say... _everything._" Danny slowly nodded. "You want to show your big sister what's under the bandage? You'll feel much better if you do..." He gulped, looking around those assembled. His eyes fell on Sam, who smiled at him, reassuringly.

_You know...underneath all of those scars, he's really pretty cute..._Sam blinked. What the_ hell _was she doing having a thought like _that _at a time like _this?_

_She smiled at me. _He looked back to the man he now knew was his father. _And I had a dad... _He looked to the women he now knew was his mother. _A mother too. _His eyes fell last on Jazz, who was still smiling at him. _And a sister... I had a home, and people who... missed me. I... had a home... a family... and all of those other things people normally have... _He felt tears starting to form at the edge of his right eye. He didn't even know ghosts could cry, he didn't even know that he still remembered how to, but the tears just wouldn't stop flowing now, forming a glistening stream down from his right eye.

He had never been able to use his left for anything for a long, long time.

Jazz pulled the boy close, petting the back of his hair. He was freezing cold, but she didn't really mind. She was determined, now more than ever to help him pick up the pieces of his shattered life. She knew she couldn't help bring him back... but she could give him an _afterlife _to look forward too. And that was the next best thing.

After a few minutes, Danny pulled himself away from her, wiping off a few remaining tears. He sniffed a bit. Jazz smiled at him.

"Do you want to show me?"

Danny nodded and moved his hand to peel back the bandage. His eye had been closed, but oddly so. It sagged down somewhat, leaving a bit of the whites of his eyes showing. He moved to open his eye, a collective gasp running through them.

Where his eye would have been normally was a deep hole, four small scarrish-looking lines marking his eyes around it.

"Danny...who did that to you?" Maddie's voice was cold, her eyes narrowed in anger. _Not only did they take my son... and kill my son.. but they... they did things to him! _She was at a loss for words, she couldn't even _begin _to imagine the things that could have happened to him.

_Nobody gets away with messing with Jack Fenton's family! Living or dead! When I find them, I'm going to make them wish they had never been born...and when they die, I'm going to hunt them down then too! _Nothing angered him more than when someone hurt his family.

_Oh man..._Sam stared at the boy's exposed eye. _It's like someone shoved a tube in it! This is just about everything I stand against. Those people... they'll regret ever having messed with me and my friends..._ She felt rage building up in her, her fist clenching and un-clenching.

_Oh. My. God. _Jazz stared at it, having the closest view. _How far down does that hole go? Why would someone even put a hole in a kid's eye? You couldn't even CALL this an eye! How long has he had to live with something like that! _

The boy looked down at his feet again, his eye slumping shut again and he placed the bandage back over it. He slowly sat down on the floor, even ghosts got tired of standing sometimes. "It was..."

* * *

The man was watching all of this, holding goggles to his eyes that easily penetrated the attic walls. He frowned, dialing up a number on his cell.

"Boss...He got in touch with his family."

"Really?" A voice came through on the other line. "Are they shooting at him?

"No...they're hugging him. There's some other girl there as well, I haven't seen her before. Black hair, kind of gothic looking."

"Probably just a family friend. Pay her no mind."

"What should we do about the Fentons?"

"Kill the father and the sister. The man's an idiot and the girl's useless. But if you harm the mother... I'll take it out on your hide. I want her alive. And remember to bring the boy back to me. At _any _cost."


	4. What Can Be Said

AN: Yay, Chapter Four! I want to murder the scientists... (snuggles Danny again). Discoveries about Danny's past, the longer italic parts are little flashbacks. Danny Phantom isn't mine, although I sure as heck wish he was!

Take Me Away

Chapter Four: What Can Be Said

"I... grew up... in... a hospital. That's what they called it at least..." Danny mumbled. Jack, Maddie, and Jazz took seats, getting the feeling that this would be a long story. Danny was sitting too, legs crossed. He had his hands rest on his arms, which he rubbed from time to time. He was nervous, but... he felt comfortable talking around these people, the ones who had been his family while he was alive. "I... don't know where it was... I was never let outside. My room didn't have a window... It was always either really cold for a long time, or warm for a long time, and sometimes it was in between..." The boy looked down a bit, before continuing. "They never told me... anything about what they were doing too me. But ever since I could remember they had always been pumping this stuff into me, really weird green glowing stuff."

Maddie and Jack looked at him and blinked. "You mean... ectoplasm?"

"Ecto-what?"

Maddie took the ghost pistol, and opened it up, pulling out a tube of glowing green liquid material. "This. It's called ectoplasm. It's the main component in a ghost's body, and one of the only things that can harm a ghost." She frowned. She had always thought that was an instinctive knowledge that a ghost had. _Guess I was wrong about that.._

The boy took the vial and looked at it. "That's the stuff... I don't have any idea why they were putting it in me though..."

"That's where you got the injection scars?" Jazz asked, looking at the tiny round circles that dotted his body. Danny nodded. "How did that... happen to your eye?"

Danny shuddered a bit, remembering...

_"The injection process is taking too long." A crowd of three scientists, dressed in white lab coats frowned, looking at each other. "The boss won't be pleased with these results. He wants to see progress in 326 soon." They turned, looking at a 12-year old Danny Fenton, his azure eyes dull and lifeless. He was huddled up against the wall, his legs drawn in. He was shivering, despite the summer heat. The scientists looked back at each other, thinking. _

_One spoke. "We could hook up a small tube into him, and spread it into his bloodstream that way." The other scientists nodded in agreement._

_"Where would we put it?"_

_"How about in his eye?"_

_"That wouldn't be the most effective way to do it." The scientist who suggested the eye grinned._

_"But it would be the most fun." The other two scientists grinned at him. "And the boss did say to enjoy ourselves...didn't he?"_

"Danny?" Jazz spoke, breaking Danny out of his memories. The boy had been clutching himself tighter, trembling. "I'm sorry... Did I bring up something I shouldn't have?" Danny shook his head.

"...it's okay..." he mumbled, looking down. "...I'd just rather not talk about it..."

Jazz nodded. _Maybe he'll tell me about it some other day. Whatever happened to cause that... It must have been terrible. Memories like that shouldn't be forced into the open before they're ready to be there. _"What about the other scars?"

"...they came from..." The boy paused, groping for the word. "...torture? They said their boss told them to do it...but they seemed to really like it..." He mumbled, looking down at the ground again, his grip on his arms tightening a bit as he remembered...

_The young boy was curled into the corner, his eyes welded shut. He was covered in bruises, a deep cut on his right temple was bleeding, along with others scattered about his body. He was only about thirteen. It was the aftermath of another season with his tormentors. Today, one of them had brought along a knife. He was trying to cry, trying to force the tears out._

_But they had run dry a long time ago._

"_What!"_ Jack and Maddie bolted up. "Where are these people! We'll show them what happens when someone messes with one of the Fentons!" They both shouted, in unison. Danny blinked, staring at them. He had never, ever, had someone get so angry over him. Is this what it meant to have a family? People who would stick up for you no matter what? Having a family was starting to sound really wonderful to him.

_I wish I was alive to enjoy this... _Then he frowned, remembering the pain he had always associated with living. Danny couldn't remember a day when he wasn't in some sort of pain, whether it was from sickness, an infected cut, hunger pains, soreness, or any number of other things. _No... then I'd just be in pain._

"Danny, are you absolutely sure you had no idea where you were?" Maddie asked, looking at him, concern showing in her eyes. She had never thought that the day would come that she would be so kind to a ghost-but sixteen years ago, she would have never thought that her son would be kidnapped and used for some sinister experiments, either. Life was funny that way-just not in the way that made you laugh. "You couldn't identify the place on a map?"

Danny frowned. "What's a map?"

The group stared at him. Sam got up and went to her backpack, plucking out a street map of Amity Park. "This is a type of map." She handed the paper to him. "This one shows all the streets of Amity Park. The street we're on is around..." Sam looked, running her finger down the map, then stopping, and tapping on it. "There. Lyon Street."

Danny stared at her, looking amazed. Sam frowned. "What? It's not really that hard..."

"You now what those funny little scratch marks say?" Sam frowned, confused, then blinked.

"You mean the words?"

"Is that what they're called?"

"Danny, do you mean to say you can't read?"His sister frowned at him.

"What's reading?"

"It's... well... it's..." Jazz scratched her head, thinking about an explanation. "It's... doing what Sam just did. Reading those words..." _Wow... I never thought I'd have to explain that to someone. What else doesn't he know how to do? They must have kept him in total ignorance... If he doesn't know anything, he can't resist, right? That's the same kind of logic they used for keeping slaves in the dark._

"Oh..." Danny said."No, I can't do that."

"Do you remember anything about this... boss you mentioned?" His mother asked, sitting beside him now. Danny paused, thinking for a minute.

"I don't think I ever saw him."

"What about the scientists?"

"They all looked exactly like each other. Brown hair, glasses, and brown eyes." Maddie sighed.

_Well, that narrows it down to about a million. Whoever these people were, they played a good game._

"Did you ever see any other people there?" Danny shook his head again.

"I didn't see anyone else besides the scientists. I think there might have been others though... I heard them talking about people they..." he paused, thinking for the word, "researched in the past. They were always scribbling on these pieces of paper... I'm sorry..."

"It's not your fault, sweetie." She petted his hair, then paused. _Should I ask?_ Maddie bit her lip, then looked at Danny. "...Do you remember exactly how you died? You... don't have to tell us if it hurts too much..."

"I was sick... I fell asleep one night, then woke up near here..." Maddie nodded. She was glad at the very least, that he didn't die from some obscure torture. _At least something in his life was peaceful..._

"I'm going to use every trick I know to find out who did this too you. I promise I'll bring justice to you, okay?" The boy nodded. Maddie smiled and kissed his ice cold cheek. "You three be nice, allright? Jack, come on, I need you."

"Right! Bye Danny!" The two walked down from the attic, heading to the lab.

"So, it's just us then..." Just then, the doorbell was heard ringing from downstairs. Jazz's eye widened and she smacked herself in the face. "Oh no! I totally forgot I'm supposed to tutor Dash today." His mother had hired her over the summer in hopes to get Dash ready for the next school year. He came once a week and generally did nothing but make a fool out of himself. "I have to go see him..." She looked at Sam. "Well... you two can keep each other company... Sorry Danny, Sam." She rushed down from the attic, to get to the front door, before Dash decided to tear it down in order to get into the house.

Which left the two teens, the gothic runaway and the abused ghost, all alone.


	5. Two Teens in an Attic

AN: Woot, Chapter Five! (cheers) I've been wanting to do what I do to the Mansons in this chapter ever since I first saw them in the show. That, and other things, like feeding them to my rapid pregnant weasels. I'd feed them to my zombie army, but I think they'd starve... I'm turning 17 next Friday! (cheers) Anyways, lots of love to all my readers and reviewers and watchers and favvers! I love you all! Hehehe... Clueless Danny is fun.

Danny Phantom isn't mine, it belongs to Butch Hartman. Who I am determined to put into a tutu at some point in my life.

Take Me Away

Chapter Five: Two Teens in an Attic

"So... Danny." Now left alone in the attic, Sam was trying to find something to talk about with her best friend's newly refound brother. She was now sitting on her new bed, looking at him. "Um... what's it like... you know... being dead?"

"Like being alive, except it's colder and you don't have to use the bathroom every two seconds." Sam grinned. _Seems he still has a sense of humor..._ "...so... uh... you... your..." He paused, recalling the name, "Jazz's friend, right?"

Sam nodded. "Yeah. Samantha Manson, runaway from her parents." Danny blinked, cocking his head to the side a bit, like a confused dog.

"Why would you want to run away from your parents?"

"They're overbearing." Danny stared at her, obviously not understanding. Sam sighed. "They try and control my every move. They want to mold me into little versions of themselves, without giving any regard to my feelings in the matter. It's really irritating."

"Oh... I guess not all parents are wonderful then." He muttered, half to himself, and half to Sam. He had pulled up his legs to his chest and was hugging them a bit, his head resting on them, gazing at the gothic girl. He had actually only ever seen one girl in his life, one of the scientists. He really didn't know much about the female gender. "Hey Sam, why do girls have mounds on their chests?" He cocked his head to the side, curious, not knowing exactly what he was asking her. Sam stared at him, her eyes wide, turning a bright red color.

"Ex-excuse me?" Danny blinked at her, confused.

_Why is she so upset? All I did was ask a question..._ Sam cleared her throat and looked around the room.

"They're... uh... look it up!"

"I can't read."

"Oh... right." Sam cleared her throat again. "Ask your mother sometime then! Sometime when I'm not... around." Danny stared at her, still confused. "Look, that's not something you... ask about, okay?" He nodded.

"Why not?"

"...because!" Danny scratched his head then shrugged his shoulders a bit. _He's kind of immature... but cute, even with all those scars. I mean, for a ghost! It's not like I like him like that or anything... I barely know the guy! Gahh, what am I thinking?_

"Are you going to stay here?" The boy cocked his head again.

"Yeah... provided my parents don't storm down the doors to try and drag me back home, or anything crazy like that. But they probably won't do that."

As soon as those words left her lips, there was a loud knock on the door downstairs. The two teens could hear Maddie come up from the basement. "Now who could that be?" She opened the door, blinking. Standing in front of her was a women with red hair, wearing a pink dress, and a man with blonde, wearing a sweater vest. "Can I help you?"

"We're looking for our daughter. Samantha Manson." Maddie stared at the two. _...Either Sam's adopted or there was a mix-up at the hospital. If these two were really her mother and father, then that would defy all known laws of science. _"Hello? Ms. Fenton!" Maddie snapped back to reality and smiled as charmingly as she possibly could at them.

"I'm sorry Mr. and Ms. Manson. I'm afraid we haven't seen your daughter." Of course, just then, Jack, king of bad timing walks up from the basement, grinning obliviously at his wife.

"Hey, Maddie, do you think Sam and Danny would like some cookies to be brought up to them in the attic?" Maddie started at her husband, rolling her eyes slightly.

"Jack, Number one, ghosts don't need to eat, and number two, Sam's supposed to be hiding from her parents."

"She is here! Oh how wonderful!" Ms. Manson smiled, clapping her hands. Jack stared at her, now munching on a cookie, which seemingly appeared out of thin air. Maddie moaned, slapping her face.

"We'd like to see her so we can bring her home! She's such a silly girl running off over something as small as that." The Mansons, without waiting, simply walked into the house and headed up to the attic. Sam moaned, staring at her parents. Danny looked a bit confused as to what was going on. He watched the two new people with suspicion, unfolding from his sitting position, muscles tensed and ready to flee on the drop of the hat. At the moment, however, they didn't seem to notice him. "Sammie-poo! How good to see you again! Come on, we've come to take you home in our lovely stretch SUV!"

Sam glared at them. "I'm not going anywhere with you, or in a gas-guzzling fusion of a limo and an SUV." Her parents frowned at her.

"Awwwww, but Sammie-poo, we have so much fun things planned for you!" Sam rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, you mean for you."

"...Sam? Who are they?" Danny spoke up from the back. The Mansons, who had their back turned to Danny turned their heads and looked at him, then back each other, than back at Danny.

"Sam...why is there a boy in the room?"

"I can't be in the same room as Sam?" Danny blinked at them, clueless. The Mansons crossed their arms, frowning.

"Of course not! Our Sammie-poo is going to be boy-free until we find just the right person for her!" Her father raised his eyebrow. "And judging from the looks of you, it's obviously not some punk like you."

"Sam, what's a punk?" Sam rubbed her head, muttering something under her breath.

"Mom, Dad, this is Danny Fenton. Danny, Mom, Dad. We just met. No indecent conduct has gone on." _Except for when he asked me what breasts were... _"A punk is... well, I'll tell you later." She turned to her parents. "And lastly, I'd like you to leave."

"We can't leave you here Sammie! These people could be dangerous!"

"These people have agreed to foster me until I get the papers drawn up for you two to get out of my life." Her parents stared at her, uncomprehending. "In simple terms, I _hate _you two. Now get out."

"But _Sammiiiieeeee!"_

"Do you want me to take drastic measures?" Her parents stayed where they were. The gothic girl sighed, yelling downstairs. "MR. FENTON! I'LL GIVE YOU A COOKIE IF YOU THROW THEM OUT!" Jack practically stormed into the attic. Sam pulled out a cookie from her bag and tossed it at him. He grabbed it, gobbled it up, and then dragged the Mansons out, shutting the door behind them, then went back up to see the two teens.

"Can I have another cookie?"

"Sure, knock yourself out." Sam tossed another one his way, and he gobbled it up just as fast, then marched resolutely back downstairs to his wife. Danny was just staring blankly.

"Is that normal?"

"No, but I think I could get used to it." She grinned. "But yeah... those were my parents. See what I mean by overbearing?"

"They were really, really happy."

"Yeah... that's the other annoying thing about them."

"So does this mean you'll be staying?" The ghostly teen had resumed his knee-hugging position on the floor, his one green eye peeking at her from behind his hair. The girl grinned at him.

"Looks like it."

"It's a shame you won't be, whelp."

The two teens turned quickly, staring directly into the face of what looked to be some sort of robot, with flaming hair. Danny shot up from his sitting position, backing away slowly. Sam got up from her seat on the bed, her eyes narrowing. _Another ghost? I get the feeling I know what he's after..._

"Who are you?"

"My name is Skulker. I am the Ghost Zone's greatest hunter!" The ghost said loudly, "And I've come to return 326 to my employer." Skulker smirked, a laser cannon coming out of the left shoulder of his suit and fired at the two.


	6. First Battle

AN: Chapter Six! Skulker vs. Jack, Maddie, and Danny! The revelation of Danny's long-time captor at the end of the chapter (don't you dare scroll down to find out who! I'm having Technus watch you guys, and he tells me when you do that, oh yes he does.), even though I'm sure you guys have pretty much guessed who he is by now, right? It's so obvious. Even more clueless Danny too! Man, the way he knows nothing about women in this story makes him seem like an expert on them in the actual series, doesn't it? I'm turning seventeen on Friday. I'm trying to get my parents to get me a portable DVD player

As always, hugs and kisses to my reviewers, readers, favvers, and watchers! I love you guys. Danny Phantom still doesn't belong to me, Butch Hartman owns it.

Take Me Away

Chapter Six: First Battle

Danny's eyes widened as the blast was fired. He panicked, eyes locked onto the blast like a deer's eyes locked on to approaching headlights. He was quickly snapped out of this, finding himself pinned to the floor under the body of Sam, who had pushed him out of harm's way. She was lying on top of him, the blast had just gone over their heads, singing the top hairs of Sam's ponytail some. Danny blinked, staring up at her, puzzled. "Why did you save me?"

"I don't know. I just did it." She hadn't thought, just letting her body react to the first thing that came to her mind-and that was saving Danny. The robotic ghost let out a slight laugh from behind them.

"Having the human girl do all your fighting for you? And here I thought I was going to have a challenge, whelp." A smirk formed on his face. "Now, we can do this the easy way, or we can do it the hard way. And frankly, I'd much prefer the hard way."

"You'll have to do it the hard way!" The trio heard the safety on a ghost rifle being pulled back, the trigger being pulled. A shot of laser-like ectoplasm was fired, hitting Skulker square in the left shoulder, blowing off a small chunk of it.. His eyes narrowed and he turned to face the shooter. Maddie Fenton was standing there, her husband close behind her, holding a small silver pole. "Nobody's going to take him without a fight."

"Three against one, hm? I like these odds." Skulker grinned, flicking his wrist a bit. From it emerged a glowing green blade. He also popped another laser cannon from his right shoulder, firing upon the pair. They ducked under it, Jack pressing a button on the pole he was carrying. From it emerged a mechanical version of the cat-o-ninetails, with a picture of Jack's head in the center.

Skulker raised the arm with the blade on it, catching the Jack-O-Ninetails around the blade, which then released a shocking charge. Skulker howled in pain, Maddie fired another blast from her ghost rifle, only to find that it was being blocked by a makeshift ectoplasmic shield. Skulker twisted his arm around, pulling on the cord of the Jack-O-Ninetails and yanking it towards him, then outwards. Jack, still attached to the other end found himself being flung into the wall, a crack forming where he made impact. Skulker got his blade untangled from the cord, but was quickly knocked back afterwards from a swift kick by Maddie, delivered to his face. He stumbled backwards, then fired several ectoplasmic lasers at the women. She attempted to dodge them, and while she was successful with most, one still managed to hit her in the left arm. She winced in pain, sucking her teeth, holding the arm gingerly. The blow had also sent the ghost rifle she was holding skidding across the floor. Skulker prepared to fire another blast but found himself being bodyslammed into the wall by a very angry Jack.

"Nobody touches Jack Fenton's wife!" Skulker glared at him, firing another array of laser beams, which Jack avoided, more by luck than agility.

"What's going on up here!" Jazz stormed into the attic, her eyes widening as she saw the battle raging. The robotic ghost smirked, moving quickly to grab the older teenager by her hair, wrenching it, placing the blade over her neck. Her eyes widened, fear showing in them.

"Jazz!" Her parents shouted, freezing in place.

The robotic ghost smirked again. "All I came here for was 326. Hand him over peacefully, and I'll return the girl to you." Jazz's eyes wandered over to Danny. Skulker's eyes followed hers, and he frowned. Danny was not crouched by Sam, who was also looking around, puzzled. She had thought he was just beside her. "Where'd he go?" He blinked again as the girl who he had thought was firmly in his grasp disappeared as well, reappearing on the other side of the room, along with Danny. Skulker's laser cannon, which had receded into his shoulder popped up again, aiming at Danny. Danny one eye narrowed, glowing a brighter green than it had before. A green glow was starting to form in his hands.

"Why can't you people just leave me alone!" The ghost boy practically growled out, taking everyone in the attic by surprise. He raised his hands in front of him, two ectoplasmic blasts firing from them, hitting a stunned Skulker square in the chest. The hunter stumbled back, only to be fit be another blast. "Just..." Danny hurled another, "Leave me...", Danny hurled a final blast at Skulker, aiming at his head. "_...ALONE!"_

Skulker's helmet shattered, his robotic suit collapsing to the ground in shambles, leaving a small blob of ectoplasm sitting in the center. Everyone started at it.

"_That's _the Ghost Zone's greatest hunter?" Sam broke the silence.

"Silence! I am the greatest hunter! You cannot ever hope to defeat m-!" Maddie had pulled out the Fenton Thermos, sucking Skulker in it, which she quickly capped.

Danny collapsed to the ground, letting out a huge sigh. His body, which had tensed up, started to relax. He really, really didn't want to go back. _How do they even know I'm here? Why do they still want me? I just want to be left alone..._

Maddie went over to her son and sat down by him. His body tensed up briefly, then relaxed again. She hugged him, the pain in her arm was receding, and it had only just grazed the outer skin. It would probably leave a scar, but wouldn't cause anymore damage than that. "Jack, can you be a dear, and send him back to the Ghost Zone?" Maddie held up the thermos and Jack nodded. He took the thermos and plodded downstairs, into the lab.

"Hey, Jazz, why did you run out all of a sud-Who's that?" Jazz jerked up, turning around to face her pupil, Dash.

"Oh um... no one Dash! Come on, let's get back to those math problems..." She smiled at him, escorting him out of the attic, after taking one last long glimpse at her long lost brother.

Sam got up from her crouching position, brushing some dust off of her skirt and stockings. "Is your arm going to be okay, Ms. Fenton?" The women smiled at her, nodding. "Are you going to be okay, Danny?" Sam asked, looking at him. _The idea of going back seemed to really upset him... I can't say I blame him though. Still, how did they know he was here? And why would they want him still? It's not like they can continue the experiments..._

Maddie was following a similar train of thought. _Unless... Unless they were simply waiting for this. They were pumping him full of ectoplasm when he was alive, what kind of effect could all that already present ectoplasmic energy have on him when he died? _She frowned, closing her eyes, lost in deep thought. _Theoretically, it could quite possibly make him more powerful than the average ghost. But why? _Maddie sighed, her thoughts only leading to one conclusion.

_...Someone must have been trying to make a weapon out of him..._ She opened her eyes, looking at the white-haired boy sitting next to her. He was worriedly looking at her wound. His green eye met with hers.

"Is it really okay?" She smiled at him, and pet his head, mussing his hair lightly.

"Of course it will, sweetie! Don't worry about me so much." He almost seemed to pout at that, and Maddie smiled. _They obviously could have never accomplished their goal, not with Danny. He's such a sweet child... My poor, sweet child. _She grabbed her son quickly, holding him in a hug. Danny blinked, returning it uncertainly. Sam looked around a bit awkwardly.

"I'm... not getting in the middle of something, am I?" Maddie pulled out from her hug, looking up at the gothic girl. She got the feeling that Sam and Danny were going to get along well, the kind of gut feeling all good mothers got about their children. The women shook her head.

"No, it's okay. This is your room after all. Which reminds me, Danny, would you like to see yours? You probably... wouldn't have much use for it but..." Danny blinked at her, cocking his head to the side a bit.

"I want to stay with Sam. Why can't I?"

Sam turned red. _He wants to stay with me? Wow... that's... kind of sweet... No, what am I thinking! I barely know the guy! And he's not even alive, for Pete's sake! I can't go falling in love with him! Stupid teenage hormones..._

Maddie blinked, looking between her ghostly son and the blushing Goth, then smiled a bit to herself. _This could work very well... Danny seems to like her a lot, and he needs someone around him. Besides, if I'm not off my mark, I think Sam likes him back..._ The ghost hunter shrugged, grinning at Danny. "I don't see why not. Just remember to give her her privacy when she asks for it. And no peeking at her in the shower, or when she's changing, young man."

Danny stared blankly at her. "That's a bad thing?"

Maddie blinked. "Um... yes? It's... generally considered to be a bad thing."

"How come?"

"Well... you see, boys and girls are... differently... composed." _He really doesn't know? This... might get to be a little awkward. _"Just... don't do it, okay Danny?" Danny nodded, although he didn't really understand what was wrong with it. _Who would have done this to him though? Obviously someone in the same field as us... And why Danny? It seems a bit suspicious that he would be the one kidnapped, after all, he's the son of two ghost hunters. It could even be someone we know... But who?_ She paused, looking at the boy, who seemed to be lost in thoughts of his own.

_Why is mom so nervous about girls and boys? And Sam too... Maybe I should ask dad... _He cocked his head to the side, completely oblivious of the thoughts going through his mother's mind.

"Danny?" Danny blinked, looking at his mother. "Are you absolutely sure you don't remember anything about their boss? Anything at all. His name, his eye color, his hobby, anything." The boy frowned, trying to think back. He shook his head after awhile, and Maddie sighed. _Will these attacks keep coming then? Whoever it is, they obviously don't want to loose Danny. I don't know how long we can keep him out of their hands... but we have to try. I'm not going to loose my baby boy again!_

Sam watched the two, sitting on her bed. She had sat her boots over by the side of her bed, her purple-covered feet dangling slightly over the edge of the bed. _She's letting him room with me then? Huh... Well, it should prove interesting at any rate... Maybe I could teach him to read. _She looked at the boy, then at his mother, who was getting up from the floor.

"I probably should get back to my research. That probably won't be the only person they send to get Danny back." She nodded to Sam, then walked out of the room. Sam looked over at Danny, who was staring at her.

"Hey Danny, want to learn to read?"

* * *

"Skulker failed?"

"Yes sir. He was badly wounded by 326."

The man frowned, placing his head in his hands, elbows propped up on his desk. "So, it seems that the experiment may have been a success... But we can't finish the process until we get him back. We need 326 here."

"I have a suggestion." The man raised his eyebrows, looking at the women who had entered his room. Penelope Spectra, a women who had been a psychologist in life. As a ghost, she now served him, helping to twist the minds of his previous experiments... which had all failed.

All up until Daniel Fenton.

"Do tell then, Ms. Spectra."

"It's simple, really. We kidnap one of the people close to him. They can't all stay together all of the time. When one of them strays from the rest, we snatch them up, then arrange a prisoner exchange." The man smirked.

"Make it Maddie." Spectra nodded, exiting the room. The man leaned back in his chair, propping his black-shoed feet up on his desk. In the end... everything would go the way he, Vlad Masters, wanted it to go.


	7. Kidnapped

AN: Woo! Chapter Seven! Mother and Son cuteness between Danny and Maddie, Danny being clueless, Vlad being evil, and me needing some sleep! I hope you all enjoy the new chapter! And free cookies to all of Take Me Away's readers, reviewers, favvers, and watchers! You all mean the world to me, seriously, you do. That's not just some random stuff I'm sayin, cause I can. _This _is random stuff that I'm saying because I can- Yargsnark ig woopiwoopi Panama monkey banana mocha almond fudge potato!

Danny Phantom doesn't belong to me, it belongs to Butch Hartman. Apparently, everyone must have _such _bad memories if I have to keep reminding you all of this every time. (giggles)

Take Me Away

Chapter Seven: Kidnapped

Maddie sighed, leaning back in her chair. She had been doing detailed research into who might have kidnapped Danny for hours, but she had yet to turn up any real clues. She yawned, stretching a bit. It was getting late, and she was starting to get hungry. Her husband had gone to bed already, he always did tire out rather quickly.

"I should get something to eat..." She mumbled as she walked upstairs, heading into the kitchen. The house was eerily quiet. She knew everyone must have been fast asleep by now. She opened the fridge, taking out a carton of milk and pouring herself a glass. She quickly threw together a peanut-butter and jelly sandwich and sat down at the kitchen table, chewing thoughtfully. _Whoever kidnapped Danny obviously has a large interest in ghosts, as well as a substantial amount of money in order to acquire all the proper equipment in order to preform the experiments, as well as to pay the salary of all the scientists that they had working on the... project._ Her face twisted in disgust a bit as she thought the last word. Possibly one of the things that had bothered her the most during the fight with Skulker was how the ghost kept referring to her son as 326. _He's a person, not a number. No small wonder Danny didn't know his name, they never told it to him._

Maddie quickly finished off her sandwich and looked up at the ceiling, staring at it, lost in her thoughts, all of them leading to nowhere. The normally alert women didn't even notice her newly refound son as he came into the kitchen, peeking at his mother from under his white hair. The red-haired women sighed, scratching her head.

"I just can't figure it out..."

"Mom?"

Maddie jumped, startled. She turned around quickly, finding herself looking at the ghostly form of her son. She sighed and smiled at him. "What is it, Danny?"

"...Sam's asleep..." He said, looking up towards the attic room. "Jazz and dad are too... It's really quiet..." Danny was used to the quiet, of course, but he never liked it. One of the things that had terrified him the most during his captivity was the silence. It seemed like it would never, and it was maddening, worse than any torture one could put physically on him.

Maddie reached down and patted her son's head, mussing his white hair gently. "They're tired, Danny. Do you want me to stay up with you?" To be honest, she was tired too, but she got the feeling that being around this much quiet unnerved him. "We could go for a walk outside..."

The boy paused, casting his eyes out the kitchen window. Maddie smiled a bit, removing her hand from his hair. "Don't worry. I imagine most people are asleep at this hour. We won't meet anyone out there." The boy looked out the window again, then nodded.

"Yeah..."

Maddie offered him her hand, and he took it. She shivered a bit, she could feel the cold of his hand through her jumpsuit. The two walked quietly out the door, into the black night. Maddie had equipped her googles with a night vision function long ago, and Danny could simply see naturally in the dark. The sounds of the night played around them, the sounds of grasshoppers and rustling leaves, caught in the wind.

"So, what have you been doing with Sam today?"

Danny's eyes lit up. "She taught me how to spell my name!" He said, excitedly. That was something he really liked, having a name. "Oh, and the letters too..." He said, remembering. Sam had taught him his letters first, then his name.

Maddie smiled at him, and he smiled back at her, his green eye closing in a grin expression. _I just wish Danny was actually alive for all this... Why was fate so cruel to him? He's lived all of his life in suffering, and when he finally gets to taste freedom, he can't even be alive to enjoy it fully. _She leaned down and gave her son a quick kiss on the forehead. He blinked, looking up at her.

"What's that called?"

Maddie blinked in surprise, then frowned a bit, to herself. _Of course he doesn't know what a kiss is..._ "It's called a kiss. You... give them to people you like."

"Could I kiss Sam?"

Maddie stared at her son, who was looking at her, cluelessly. "Uh... why Sam?"

"Because she's nice."

Maddie scratched her head a bit. "Well... I don't see why not. If she wanted you too, I mean..." _Honestly, I don't think he knows what he's saying half the time... Then again, we haven't exactly been very good in explaining things either..._

Danny, oblivious to the thoughts in his mother's head, simply grinned. The two walked in silence for awhile longer, but it was a comfortable silence. Maddie watched her son, at the same time keeping alert for anyone who might take this opportunity to try and recapture him. The two wound up in the park. Maddie walked Danny over to the pond, the full moon glistening in the water. Danny stared in awe at it, he had never seen something like that before.

"How can the moon be in two places at once?"

"The moon on the water is just a reflection of the moon in the sky. Same with all the stars you see in the water." Maddie motioned out across the pond, which displayed the reflection of the stars as well. It was an incredibly clear night, every star shining bright.

"Wow... that's so neat..." Danny kneeled down to the edge of the pond, and placed his hand in the water where the reflection of a star was. The water around his hand broke, moving out in circles as he pulled it out. He did it again, just to make absolutely sure that there wasn't _really _a star there. Maddie smiled at him, moving to pet his head lightly. The boy tensed up a bit at the touch, but relaxed when it registered with them that it was only his mother. He looked up at her, smiling. Maddie's smile only widened, but she then yawned. It was getting late, and she was getting really tired. Danny frowned a bit and got up.

"Should we go home now?" He cocked his head to the side a bit. "You seem really sleepy, mom..."

"You'll be okay staying up all by yourself, Danny?" The boy nodded. He didn't want to give his mother anymore trouble than he already had. He would find something to occupy his time, probably practicing his letters, in order to impress Sam with them when she woke up. Maddie kissed his forehead again.

"Come on then, let's go back to the house."

The two walked back to the Fenton house in quiet, though it was still a comfortable silence. Maddie smiled at her son a final time before she closed the door to her room, and placed on her pajamas, falling fast asleep. Normally, she was a very deep sleeper, but today was just so tiring that she completely conked out. Danny looked at the door for a few seconds longer, before he floated up into the attic, moving to sit by Sam's bed. He pulled out the paper Sam had used for him to write down his letters on, and pulled out a pencil, practicing some more. When the morning came, Danny would ask Sam how to write _her _name.

* * *

"Finally! I thought she would _never _go to sleep." Spectra muttered under her breath. She was currently floating outside the window to Maddie and Jack's room. She had gone unnoticed by the exhausted women. Of course, being a black figure helped too.

"Why didn't we just make a grab for the boy while he was out walking with her? Surely Vlad wants him more." Her assistant, Bertand said, looking through the window into Maddie and Jack's room. Spectra sighed.

"He wants them both, that's why. If he convinces them that he'll give up Maddie for 326, and they bring him to him, he can easily turn the tables on them, and simply take both Maddie and 326."

"Ah..."

"Now come on, we can't just float around here all night." The ghostly women phased through the window, her assistant following. Bertand handed Spectra a pair of handcuffs, as well as a gag. Spectra quickly and silently placed them on the sleeping women, who was so tired she didn't even notice it. The two quickly vanished along with the women, leaving only a typed out note left behind.

* * *

Morning dawned on the Fenton household. Jack Fenton yawned, stretching, and got himself up from bed, his massive hands rubbing his eyes. "Good morning Maddie... Maddie?" The man turned around, frowning. His wife was nowhere to be seen. "Hm? What's this? A note..." He picked it up, reading it closely.

_Mr. Fenton-_

_Seeing as you are not an incredibly bright man, I shall make this simple. My assistants have taken your wife, and brought her to me. In order to get her back, you must bring 326, the one you call 'Danny', back to me, his creator. The exchange will take place at the abandoned football stadium, tonight at nine. No weapons are allowed, and 326 must be given restraints to prevent him from using his powers._

_Do have a nice day._

Jack's eyes narrowed, and he crumpled the note into a ball, hurling it in anger at the door. "You'll regret the day you ever messed with Jack Fenton, you creep!" He blinked as the door opened, his daughter peeking in. Below her was her friend, Sam, and below that, was his recently refound son, Danny.

"What's wrong, dad?" Jazz asked, worried. "Where's mom?"

Jack sighed. "Your mother is... well..." He sighed, picking up the note, and uncrumpled it, giving it to Jazz. She read it out loud, her eyes widening. She looked down at her little brother, who was trembling terribly, his hands back over his arms, rubbing them. Sam put and arm around him, trying to calm him down. Danny looked up at Sam, then leaned his head slowly into her shoulder. Sam was obviously surprised by this, but simply moved to rub Danny's head, trying to reassure him. Jazz looked back to her father.

"You're not going to give him Danny, are you?"

"Of course not! I won't give up either, my son or my wife! We're going to get your mother back, kids, if it's the last thing we do! And it won't be!" As if on some sort of magical cue, the stomachs of Jazz, Jack, and Sam all rumbled. "And we'll discuss it... over breakfast!"

* * *

Maddie came to with a start, looking around. She quickly realized that she had been tied down to a pole, her wrists and ankles bound as well. All her weapons had been removed, but she was still, for now, ungagged.

"She's awake..." She looked up, coming into eye-contact with what appeared to be a blob of ectoplasm with arms. He turned to another women, with red hair, pointed almost like devil horns, wearing a business suit and sunglasses. Maddie assumed that this women was a ghost, it was quite obvious her companion was at any rate. The women looked at Maddie, taking her in, then got up off the table she was leaning on.

"I'll get the boss." She left, and returned a few minutes later, with the last person Maddie ever expected to walk through a door accompanied by a ghost.

Vladimir Masters, her old friend in college. While it was true that they had gone their separate ways after Maddie choose Jack over him, she had never assumed he would be tangled up in something like _this._ She had always thought he was such a nice guy!

"...Vlad?"

"Ah, Maddie, it seems as if you do remember me after all. Spectra, Bertand, that will be all." The two gave him a curt nod, leaving the room. Maddie frowned, glaring at the well-dressed man. "Now Maddie, don't look at me that way."

"_You _kidnapped Danny! It was you who ordered all that done to him!"

"Yes, him and others. You should fell proud, your son was the project's only success. Or he will be once he returns to us, and I erase that pesky little free will of his."

Maddie's eyes narrowed further. "What are you trying to do Vlad?"

"Isn't it obvious? I'm trying to create the perfect weapon. A ghost with power beyond telling, obedient to my every command. Imagine the things I could do with something like that..."

"You're a sick, twisted man. I can't believe I even considered marrying you, even for a second!"

"Ah, but I believe you'll come to see me in a different light someday. Once your husband has been taken care of, of course. I wouldn't want you to live with something like an affair on your conscience."

"You could use one." Maddie spat at him, eyes blazing in anger. _Of course! The answer was in front of me all along, but I just didn't see it. Vlad has the money, and the interest to do something just as sick and wrong as this. Poor, Poor Danny..._

"Firey, but I don't think that exactly suits a women in your situation, now does it? At nine tonight, the rest of your family is going to come here to trade 326 for you. Of course, they'll be getting neither you nor 326 back. Because I intend to keep both of you." A wicked grin split Vlad's face, as he pulled out a handkerchief from his jacket pocket. "Now, I'll need you to stay quiet until then." Maddie struggled, trying to resist the gag that was being placed over her mouth, but Vlad managed to tie it in place, firmly.

"Until tonight, my love. Until tonight." Upon those words, he left, locking the door behind him.


	8. Decisive Action

AN: Chapter Eight, and a new piece of Take Me Away art! Woo! I dare you guys to tell me that it's not cute. Remember, take out the spaces!

www. deviantart. com / view / 29102624/

Yes, I know, this is a very evil cliff-hanger, isn't it? But just wait until you see what I have in store for you all next. (rubs her hands evilly) Hehehe... Next chapter will focus on Danny and Vlad, fun for the whole family!

Danny Phantom still doesn't belong to me, unfortunately...

Take Me Away

Chapter Eight: Decisive Action

The three remaining Fentons, and one Manson sat at the breakfast table, three bowls of cereal sitting in front of Jack, Sam, and Jazz. The were all chewing thoughtfully on their cereal, each thinking up their own plan.

"...I should just go..."

The three blinked, and turned to look at Danny. His head was slumped against the tale, arms folded underneath it. The glow in his eyes were dulled a bit, a sign of the depression that had him in his grips. He had come all this way to escape his old life, and it still followed him. Now he had gotten his newfound family involved in it too. It was all his fault. If he had never come here, never let his curiosity take control of him, none of this would have ever happened. Maddie Fenton, his mother would be at this table with her family, munching on cereal with them.

"Danny, don't say that!" His sister protested, placing a hand on his shoulder. She had been worried, from the second that she had read the note out loud, that Danny would start blaming himself for this. It was a perfectly normal reaction, but someone like Danny might take that reaction to the next level. She made a note to keep an eye on him throughout the day, so he didn't just sneak off to the meeting place himself. "You can't give yourself to them."

"But they have mom..."

"We'll find a way to get her back, _and _keep you. You can't blame yourself for this, Danny. It's not your fault."

"But it is..."

"Jazz is right Danny, it isn't your fault. You're not the one who drove those people to be inhuman monsters, and you're not the one who put the idea of kidnapping your mother into their heads. Therefore, this isn't your fault." Sam said, smiling at Danny. "I'm sure Ms. Fenton doesn't blame you for it, so you shouldn't blame yourself. Fate's weird. It likes to do crazy things and the only thing we can do about it is to hang on for the ride."

Danny pulled his head up off of the table, looking between Sam and Jazz, as well as his father. The large man was smiling at him as well, making Danny feel much better. _Sam and Jazz are right... this isn't my fault... Turning myself into them won't do any good, it'll just make things worse..._

"What we need now is a good plan..." Jazz mused, leaning back slightly in her chair, closing her eyes. Everyone was thinking then, sending the kitchen into complete and utter silence.

"What if Danny did turn himself in?"

The trio looked up in surprise. Sam had spoken, a sly look crossing her face. "Oh, don't look at me that way. Danny could arrive there, unexpected, and they'd be too distracted by him to notice us sneaking in afterwards to free Mrs. Fenton. We would have to agree on some sort of signal, so that when we got her, we could make sure that Danny knows it's time to leave. There might be a bit of fighting, but nothing we can't handle, I'm sure. Considering the fact that all of this person henchmen so far have been ghosts, we should probably bring along some ghost-hunting equipment."

"That's a good plan..." Jazz nodded, looking at her father, who nodded as well. The trio then turned to Danny, waiting for his answer.

"Okay..." He said quietly, his voice barely a whisper. In the back of Danny's head, slowly his own plan was forming...

"You don't have to do it if you don't want to, Danny." Sam said, looking at him. Danny smiled weakly at her, shaking his head.

"No, I want to."

"Danny should arrive before the arranged meeting time, then. They might get suspicious if showed up on the declared time, plus they wouldn't be ready, which would make it easier for us to slip in when they aren't looking." Jazz mused, tapping a finger against her chin. Sam and Jack nodded, while Danny just looked down at his feet. "If we bring equipment, it'll have to be something that's small, and easy to handle. We can't make a quick getaway if we're burdened down by tons of heavy equipment. The Ghost Pistols, and the Jack-O-Nine-Tails should do the trick, as well as the Fenton Thermos..." She said, recalling her parents inventions.

"Dad, after Danny distracts them, you and Sam can sneak in and bring out mom. You should probably give Sam a quick tutorial on how to use the ghost-hunting weapons." Jazz nodded to her father. "I'll be waiting in the RV, and we'll make a break for it. Danny, once we give the signal, you need to make a break for it too. We'll meet up back at the house, where Dad will put up a ghost shield. There, mom can tell us all she found out, and if we have enough information we can call the police on the guy. And then all of our problems will be over!"

* * *

"Why?"

"Why what? I already told you what I was trying to do with Daniel, and why I wanted a weapon like him."

Vlad Masters had returned to Maddie's cell upon her request. She was refusing to eat anything until she saw him again, until she was able to get some more answers out of him. The forty-year old ghost hunter was now un-gagged once again, and was starting at Vlad, her eyes like cold amethyst.

"Why torture?"

"Ah, yes. That. It's quite simple, really. Cruel tests, torture. It would have given him a horrible view of humanity, one that he would remember when he died. Or _should _have. I'm not sure what went wrong, by my calculations he should have returned as a spirit where he died. Of course, I didn't expect him to have a strong enough subconscious memory of a home he only lived in for nine months, strong enough that it would draw his spirit back there. He should have a deep-bread hatred for humanity by now..." Vlad frowned. The way Daniel was acting was one of the few things that completely and utterly confused him. He had been exposed to nothing but cruelty since they had kidnapped him, so why _wasn't _he bitter and vengeful?

"Danny's a good kid, too good of a kid to turn evil under any circumstances. You should have kept in mind, _Vlad_," Maddie spat his name out like a curse, "that cruelty can also breed boundless compassion as well."

"Ah, no matter. A simple brainwashing should do the trick."

Maddie arched an eyebrow. "But if you wanted him to hate humans, wouldn't he hate you too?"

"Not really. I had planned for the scientists to continue testing on him using technology specially designed to hold and harm ghosts, until I could swoop in and 'save' him. He'd be so grateful that he would do just about anything I told him to do. Of course, since that option is now obviously out, I'll simply have to brainwash him into doing everything I say." The man shrugged, obviously not too bothered by it. He knew that he would get Daniel back, no matter the cost. The boy would be his, and so would the women of his dreams. Even if he had to brainwash her as well.

* * *

After eating breakfast and a through instruction from Jack on how to use the ghost pistols and the Fenton Thermos properly, the quartet was ready to head out. It was now two in the afternoon, way ahead of the scheduled meeting time. They agreed that Danny would fly ahead first and the others would start following about three minutes later. Sam had described the football stadium to Danny, and pointed out to him the general direction to go in.

"Are you sure you're going to be okay, Danny?" His sister asked again, worried. This was such a big responsibility to put on him, after all. The boy nodded, smiling a little at Jazz.

"I'll be fine, promise."

Jazz smiled, kissing his cold forehead. Jack patted his son on the back with one hand and mused his hair with the other.

"Aw, don't worry about him so much, Jazzy-pants. He's a Fenton, he's a natural survivor! Now come on, we have to save Maddie before she comes up with a daring plan to liberate herself, and takes away all of our glory!"

Sam smiled at the boy. "Good luck Danny. Don't worry, we'll get your mother out of there. And I'll make sure to give those jerks what's coming to them too. After all... I'm a human rights activist! You don't mess with our friends and get away with it..."

Danny blinked, he didn't understand what an activist was, but if Sam was one, they must be really wonderful things. It almost made Danny feel guilty for what he was planning to do, unbeknownst to the other three. But he couldn't turn back now, he had to carry on with what he planned to do. It was the only thing Danny knew he could to keep his family, and Sam, safe. The boy said his final goodbyes to them, although the trio did not interpret the parting words he gave each of them as such, and Danny wasn't so clueless that he would give them the impression that he would never come back. He smiled at them and took off into the air, heading in the direction Sam had pointed out.

Sam frowned watching him go. Jazz looked at her. "What's wrong, Sam?"

"...It's almost as if he doesn't intend on coming back."

Jazz frowned, staring at the retreating shape of her brother. She sort of got that vibe too, and looked at her father, who, as usual, seemed to totally miss it. "It's probably just our own nervousness showing itself. Our subconscious minds are giving us this silly feeling. Danny's not going to go away forever, and we'll be right behind him within three minutes time."

Sam nodded, agreeing with her, but she couldn't shake the gut-wrenching feeling she was getting. She could only hope that she was wrong.

After three minutes, the trio loaded into the RV, also known as the Fenton Family Ghost Assault Vehicle, and headed towards the abandoned stadium. Jazz was driving, because neither of them really trusted Jack's driving when he was excited. Which he was, because he was now given the opportunity to fight ghosts, save his wife, and smack down Danny's former captors all at the same time.

They soon arrived outside of the stadium, and Jazz parked the RV behind a row of trees, hiding it from the sight of the people in the stadium. They caught sight of Danny slowly entering the building through the front entrance, the guards standing on duty following behind him, obviously figuring that they didn't need to stand guard anymore. Jack nodded to Sam and they both stepped out of the RV, and headed quietly towards the stadium, using whatever they could find as cover. They managed to sneak in easily enough, and the two set off to find Maddie, keeping on their guard so they wouldn't be taken by surprise.

Maddie, however, was making her own plans of escape. After Vlad had left for the second time, she noticed had started to work on untying her wrists. The knots, though well-tied, were slowly starting to come undone. She knew that Vlad probably had one of his ghost henchmen guarding the door, but it was nothing that she couldn't handle. After all, they hadn't taken her googles, which she had installed a small chip in, allowing her to shoot ectoplasm from then, when turned the right way.

She almost let out a cheer when the finally knot came undone, but quickly silenced herself, so not to attract the attention of the guard. She quickly moved her around the pole and started to work on the knot that was keeping her attached to it. She blinked, looking up as she heard a slight commotion outside of the door. She could have _sworn _she heard her husband and Jazz's friend. Sure enough, moments later, her husband knocked down the door, smiling gleefully when he saw his wife.

"Maddie! We found you! Now come on!"

"I'm still tied up, Jack."

"Oh... right. I knew that. Sam!"

"Coming Mr. Fenton." The teenager, who had thought ahead, pulled out a knife, and cut the ropes binding Maddie to the pole, then the ropes binding Maddie's feet. The ghost huntresses stood up, stretching.

"Where are Jazz and Danny?"

"Danny's faking out the captors, and Jazz is waiting to drive the get away car. Sam, give Danny the signal to get away and met us back at the house!"

Sam nodded, quietly moving to where she had last seen Danny. She motioned out with her hand, catching Danny's eye. The kidnappers had their backs turned to Sam, although she made a note of them. A black shadowed women, clearly a ghost, and a man with white hair, in what looked to be a suit. Danny gave Sam a slight nod, the motion that he would get away from them as soon as he was sure that the others were long gone. Sam smiled, returning to the Fentons.

"Done."

The trio managed to sneak out as easily as they had come in. They quickly loaded up in the RV, Jazz quickly giving her mother a hug.

"Danny's going to be following behind us, right?" Jazz asked, a bit concerned. Something still seemed kind of off to her, but she just couldn't tell what it was. Sam nodded and the RV quickly took off, moving down the road and back to the Fenton house.

Hours passed.

And Danny didn't come back.


	9. The Start of Two Plans

AN: Woot! Chapter Nine, finally! A bit short, but yeah. Sometimes they're just that way, and there's nothing you can do about it. Sorry that I kept you all waiting! (Bows) Now let's all give Danny a big hug! Next chapter is the debut of the 'Weaponized' form of Danny, and I say Weaponized because he's not evil, just incredibly obedient to Vlad.

Danny Phantom doesn't belong to me, it belongs to Butch Hartman! Now, if anyone here needs me, I'm going to me singing "Jingle Bells" in the middle of March, while roller-skating backwards. Ciao, babies!

Take Me Away

Chapter Nine: The Start of Two Plans

"Mr. Masters?"

"Yes, Spectra?" Vlad Masters looked up from the papers he was studying. They were detailed reports on 326's, or Daniel Fenton's, progress during experimentation.

"It seems as if 326 has come here on his own. He wants to turn himself in."

"Really? Well how about that..." Vlad got up from his desk, brushing off the jacket of his suit. "Well, shall we go to him then?" Spectra nodded, a slight smirk forming on her somewhat formless face.

"We shall indeed." The two walked towards the middle of the abandoned stadium. Danny was standing there, alone, with the exception of a few of Vlad's ghostly guards. He was looking at his feet, not meeting Vlad's or Spectra's gaze as they came up to him.

"Well, well... the rouge experiment 326... Or should I say young Daniel Fenton? Quite a surprise to see that you came here all on your own. Where's your fool of an old man?" Vlad said, casting his eyes around the stadium. Not seeing his bumbling former friend, he looked back at Danny, satisfied.

"He's... not here. I came back on my own." Danny mumbled in a quiet voice, but still low enough for the two to hear him. "I figured that... It would be selfish of me to keep getting my family involved in all of this. If you want me back... then... then you can have me."

"Ah, a very good choice, my boy. I suppose I should introduce myself then, shouldn't I? After all, I will be your new master. Vlad Masters, head of Master Corps. I'm sure your intimately familiar with my more... secretive research." Danny gave him a slight nod, still not looking up at him. "Now, now, don't be so depressed. You'll soon find that you will like working for me. After all, the world out there could never possibly accept one such as yourself. But here... here you're just... another part of the family, if you will."

Danny glared at him then, his green eyes turning brighter, surprising Vlad a bit. He honestly didn't think the boy was capable of rage, but he was glad to see that he was. It would make his job far easier.

"_Don't _call me family. I might be going with you, but that doesn't make you my family. I'm doing it so you leave my family alone." Danny said, his voice almost threatening.

"You'll soon grow to feel otherwise, I'm sure." Vlad said, cooly. Of course, there _would _be a little brainwashing to help out with that. He couldn't afford for his weapon to show a conscience during battle. It just wouldn't do.

"You'll set my mom free?" Danny asked.

"Why, of course, young Daniel. I am a man of my word." Of course, he had promised Maddie that he would have her as his bride first, and that, he felt, dominated any other later promises he would make. Therefore, he had no real obligation to return Maddie to the Fenton household, and back into the arms of her bumbling, idiotic husband. "But... if she happens to come back out of her own free will," Vlad smiled to himself. "Well, then I most certainly won't stop her."

Danny blinked, confused. "Why would she come back to you?"

"We used to be friends, in college. Your father _was _one of my college friends, as well, before he _stole _Maddie from me." Vlad said, losing his cool for a moment, a vein popping in his forehead as he remembered it.

Danny blinked again. "Why did dad kidnap mom? And what's... college?" He frowned, repeating the unfamiliar word.

Vlad stared, surprised for a moment at the boy's lack of knowledge. Then he remembered that he requested that Danny have no education, because the less he knew, the easier the brain-washing process would be. It seemed that the scientists had done their job well in keeping any and all information from him.

"Your father... didn't kidnap Maddie, it's just an expression. I loved her, but he went in and took her from me! And a collage is... well, that doesn't even matter, now does it?"

Danny shook his head slowly. He then peeked up, as if someone had caught his attention, giving a slight nod. Vlad blinked, then turned in the direction that Danny was looking in, but saw nothing. He frowned, turning back. "Was someone there?"

Danny blinked, a confused look on his face, and shook his head. Vlad pushed it out of his mind, the boy obviously was not the most stable person around. _Of course, that is probably my doing, now isn't it? Oh well._ He smiled to himself, then turned to Spectra. "Kindly take young Daniel, and get him secured in the limo. I'll be joining you momentarily."

Spectra nodded and took the boy by the wrists, pulling him out of the abandoned stadium, and to the limo waiting outside. She pushed him inside, then pulled down two anti-ghost restraints, locking them around Danny's wrists. "Don't try and get away dear, because no ghost can escape from these." The ghostly women slid into the limo, sitting directly across from Danny, staring intently at him.

Danny merely stared at the floor, feeling guilty for tricking his newfound friends and family. But it was something he had to do, otherwise someone might get hurt, or worse. He knew Vlad would probably be angry when he found that Maddie was gone, and he knew it would probably be taken out on him. But it wasn't like he wasn't used to being treated like a pin cushion. Living or dead, he had grown fairly numb to the pain.

Sure enough, when Vlad entered the limo, he was angry. He immediately went over to the ghostly teenager, grabbing angrily at his shirt, and pulling him up towards him. "_Where is she?"_

"The others took her and brought her home..." Danny mumbled out, not looking at Vlad.

"Oh, and I suspect that any moment now, they'll barge in and rescue you?" Vlad asked, his eyes narrowing in anger at having been tricked.

Danny smiled weakly, shaking his head, and let out a sad laugh. "No... No they won't."

Vlad raised an eyebrow. "Oh, they won't?"

"No... They won't. They think... They think that I'm going to meet up with them later." Danny looked down, focusing on the floor once again. "But I can't... I can't go back... If I do, you'll only come back to try and get me again, and someone could wind up getting hurt... And I don't want that." He looked to one of the tinted windows. "I don't..."

Vlad frowned, then shook his head. _It seems like the boy has a bit of a hero complex. Ah, well, in the end it's used to my advantage if it's brought him back to me. It shouldn't be a bother after the brainwashing is complete, and then we can use him to bring back my future wife, and to destroy her current husband._

"Driver, please head back." Vlad said, casually. The driver nodded and the limo drove off, heading towards the facility that Danny was once placed in, where they would begin the brainwashing process, finishing what they had started.. Although it was a tad off, everything was still going according to Vlad's plan.

* * *

"Danny..." Maddie sighed, then turned back to her husband and her daughter, angrily. "Jack, you _said _he would be right behind us! And Jazz, your the one who wants to be a psychologist, you should have been able to tell that something was wrong!"

"We're sorry..." The two muttered in unison, exchanging guilty looks. Her mother was right, Jazz knew, she _should _have known something was wrong.

Maddie sighed again, rubbing her head. "And now Vlad has him again..."

Jack was stunned when Maddie had first announced that his old collage buddy, Vlad Masters, was behind the experiments on his son. He was even more stunned to learn that Vlad was infatuated with Maddie, ever since collage, and that he wanted him dead. He _really _had to start paying attention to these things.

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Fenton." Sam spoke up. Jack, Maddie, and Jazz all looked at her. She smiled weakly. "I had a feeling that something was wrong, but I just pushed it aside as anxiety. And I was the last one to see him, I should have stuck around to make _sure _that he was going to escape. I'm more at fault than Jazz and Mr. Fenton. If anyone should be blamed, it's me."

"Oh Sam, I could never blame you." Maddie frowned. "In the end, I don't think anyone would have guessed it."

"He's got a classic hero complex..." Jazz muttered mainly to herself, although the others heard. She shook her head, looking at those assembled. "Who would have thought?"

"Well I think this time, Danny needs someone to save him." Maddie smiled, but it quickly faded. "Vlad was telling me that he had some way to brainwash him. Chances are, now that he's got Danny back in his clutches, he's going to try and do just that. And that's something we can't let him do. We have to find Danny, and get him out of there before Vlad can brainwash him."

"Where would we even start to look?" Jazz asked.

Maddie bit her lip, thinking. "If there were only some way we could get a list of Vlad's purchases in the real estate department. It's no doubt that he owns the building the... _testing_," Maddie said slowly, "was done in."

"Tucker!" Jazz grinned, and pulled out a cell phone, dialing a number on it. Sam exchanged a confused look with the two other Fentons.

"Who's Tucker?" Sam asked them.

"One of Jazz's friends. Big on the technology, if I recall correctly..." Maddie muttered, looking back at Jazz. "You think he'd be able to find that out?"

"I'm sure. Oh? Hello. Yeah, Tucker, it's me. Um, can I ask you a weird favor?" Jazz paused, waiting for an answer. "I need you to see if you can find a list of real estate purchases in the name of Vlad Masters." There was another pause. "Allright, call me the second you find them. Thanks, Tucker." Jazz hung up, looking at the group.

"He says he'll look. I don't know how long it will take though..."

Maddie frowned. "We'll just have to wait. In the meantime, Jack, help me load up the Fenton Family Ghost Assault Vehicle with all the necessary ghost hunting gear. We'll need a thermos for each of us. I'll take the Fenton Ghost Bazooka, since I am a better shot than you. Give Jazz and Sam each a Ghost Pistol. And you, you take whatever weapon you like."

"Right! The Jack-O-Nine-Tails!" Jack said loudly, and ran down to the lab, bringing up all of the requested items, including some extras. "And the Fenton Fisher, the Fenton Ghost Gauntlets, and the Fenton Anti-Creep Stick."

Maddie stared blankly at Jack upon the mention of the last item. "Jack, you do know that's just a baseball bat, right?"

"Yes, but I figured you'd like it to beat Vlad's brains out." Jack nodded, proud of himself.

"Awwwww, honey, that's so sweet of you!" Maddie grinned and hugged him, kissing him on the cheek. Sam and Jazz exchanged looks, then shrugged. Jazz's cell phone rang then, and she blinked, picking it up.

"Hello? Wow, already? That was fast..." Jazz pulled out a notebook and a pencil, and began to write some things down. "Un-huh. Unnn-huuuh... Yep. Got it. Okay, thank you again Tucker." She paused again. "Well, it's complicated. I'll explain it to you later, maybe. Anyways, I have to go. Bye." Jazz hung up her cell phone, and handed the paper to her mother, who read over it.

"A castle in Wisconsin that belonged to the Diary King... A football stadium, and large complex right outside of town." Maddie stared at the paper, blankly. "Right outside of town? How in the world could we have _missed _that!"

Maddie scratched her head in annoyance, sighing. "Allright, I'll set the Assault Vehicle's GPS to locate this place and drive us there. We're going to go in there, get Danny, bash Vlad's head in, send all of his ghost minions back to the Ghost Zone, and then take Vlad to jail where he so rightfully belongs. All the money in the world won't help him get out, something I'll make sure of personally."

Jack, Jazz, and Sam all nodded in agreement. Their plans had been made, and they were ready to go.

* * *

But their plans were not the only ones that were in motion. Vlad had arrived with Danny at the compound and was leading him up the stairs, into the brainwashing room, as it was called.

"What are you going to do with me?" Danny mumbled slowly. All the light that was in his eyes from before, when he was free from the compound had vanished, all the curiosity and innocence had dissipated, leaving him empty and depressed, how he felt for the majority of the time when he had been alive.

"Your purpose was to be used as a weapon. An unstoppable force that would allow me to get whatever I wanted, when I wanted." Vlad frowned. "Of course, you didn't turn out quite the way I wanted, so I have to correct that grievous error."

"...I see..." Danny said. "...I don't have the right to ask but... can you promise me... one thing?"

"What?" Vlad asked, in annoyance.

"Don't go after them... my family. And Sam."

Vlad sighed. "Yes, of course I promise." _And of course, I don't actually mean that. But he won't be in the position much longer where he's even aware of what he's doing._ "Now, do get in." Vlad said, opening the door up the room. Danny nodded and entered. Vlad closed and locked the door behind Danny, then headed into the control room next to him. He motioned to one of the scientists there.

"Start the process."


	10. The Weapon

AN: Would you guys look at me funny if I said I had fun writing this? Sorry it took so long to write though, I REALLY wanted to make sure the battle scene was perfect. Chapters with battles in them do usually take me longer to write. Arggg, I made myself cry sometimes with this, especially towards the end! And though it says its over, it's not! That's right, there's a sequel coming for this one too. Because all good stories are told in two or three parts! Or at least that's my excuse for today! Hey, now I have three stories done though. Cool! Oh, right, and the ecto sabre Maddie uses is the one from the episode Maternal Instinct. They didn't name it to my knowledge, so I called it an ecto sabre, cause it reminded me of a lightsabre. Yeah, aren't I brilliant? I listened to a TON of J-Rock to help inspire me for the battle scene, especially Plastic Tree's "Ghost".

And before I go, one comment on the new episode of DP, Kindred Spirits. SOLID PROOF OF VLAD'S LOLITA COMPLEX! Yep. There's no way around it now, Vlad SO has a lolita complex.

Danny Phantom doesn't belong to me, but MAN, I wish it did.

Take Me Away

Chapter Ten: The Weapon

"This is the place?" Sam muttered under her breath, looking at Jack, Maddie and Jazz. Maddie looked at the address on the scrap of paper and nodded. Sam turned back to the place, looking back at it. It was fairly plain, a two-story stark white building, with very few windows. "It sure looks creepy enough to be a research facility..."

"So what's the plan? How do we get Danny out of there?" Jazz asked, looking at her parents. Jack and Maddie exchanged looks.

"Well, we just figured we'd go in there ghost pistols ablazing." Jack said.

"So in other words, you don't have an exact plan for this part." Jazz said, starting blankly at her parents.

"Nope. Not really." Jack said. Jazz let out a long sigh and turned her attention back to the building.

"There aren't any guards on the outside." Sam noted. "Probably in order to not attract attention."

"That means there's probably guards just on the inside. Going in through the front doors would be suicide." Maddie said, her eyes darting around the building, looking for another way in. "And it seems that there aren't any windows that would allow for an alternate entrance. So how do we get in?"

"Blast our way in?" Jack offered.

"Jack, that has got to be the stupidest idea I've ever heard." Maddie said.

"Well, can you think of anything better?" Jack challenged her, in a somewhat childlike manner.

Maddie let out a long sigh, rubbing her forehead. "No, I can't, unfortunately. Which means, foolish or not, that's probably going to be the plan we wind up going with. Unless you two have any ideas?" Maddie turned, looking to Sam and Jazz. Both shook their heads, neither of them able to come up with anything that even remotely resembled a good plan.

Maddie let out another long sigh. "Well, head on assault it its."

"Hey, maybe we should try driving the Ghost Assault Vehicle into the building!" Jack piped in.

Maddie blinked, turning to her husband. "That's... a bit crazy, and more than a little reckless, but it'll definitely surprise them, and the Assault Vehicle can definitely withstand running into a building. Something like that just might do the trick! Why didn't you suggest that earlier?" Maddie asked.

"Because I just thought of it." Jack said, nodding to himself.

Maddie shook her head and smiled, determination glinting in her eyes. "Allright, into the Fenton Ghost Assault Vehicle. It's time to pay dear old Vlad a long overdue visit."

* * *

"The brainwashing is finished si-whoa!" The scientist reporting to Vlad toppled over, as the entire building shook. Vlad himself was knocked to the ground. He got immediately back up though, grumbling in annoyance.

"What in the blue blazes was that?" He shouted.

Another of the scientists ran in, panting, leaning down and trying to get out her words. She gulped and found them. "Sir... It seems as if.. a large... RV... has rammed into... the front of the building..."

"An RV?" Vlad frowned, it then dawning on him. "Of course! It must be the Fentons. I should have known they'd try something crazy like this." A wicked smirk split Vlad's face. "Send in the ghost minions to hold them off for as long as you can. I'll prepare the weapon."

"You're going to use him on his own family?" She asked, arching an eyebrow, her voice almost sounding impressed. "That's... pure evil."

"Yes, I know." Vlad remarked, opening the door and heading into the now deactivated brainwashing room. This would provide a perfect opportunity for him to test both the effectiveness of his brainwashing program and the battle prowess of his newly finished ghostly weapon.

The ghostly teenager was slumped over in his restraints, not moving. His snow white hair hung down over his face, covering it.

"326, Experiment Phantom." Vlad said in a stern and commanding voice. "Awaken."

Danny snapped into movement suddenly, his head jolting up quickly. His one good eye was a dull tuscan red, like the color of dried blood, and it had a serpentine slit down the middle for a pupil. An amused and triumphant smirk crossed over Vlad's face as he saw this, as well as the prompt obeying of his command. He unlocked the restraints around the ghost.

"There are intruders downstairs that seek to destroy us. Do be a dear, and dispose of them, will you?" Vlad asked. "Oh, but the woman in the aqua Hazmat... I want you to bring her to me. Do be as kind to her as possible, and try not to hurt her too badly if she puts up a fight. I wouldn't want that." A cold, eerie smile spread across Vlad's face.

Danny nodded. "As you wish, master." He quickly flew from the room, floating down the stairs and towards the intruders, not knowing that the people he had been ordered to destroy and capture were none other than his friends and family. He knew nothing, in fact, except for the fact that he had been given orders by his master, Vlad Masters, and that he must obey them. There was no questioning the master, absolutely none.

The brainwashing had, in essence, made him nothing more than an emotionless minion, incapable of doing anything except for executing his orders to their fullest. He couldn't act, couldn't think without an order from Vlad. He had ceased to become Danny Fenton, and had truly become just a number, just an experiment, just a weapon.

* * *

"How many ghost minions does he have!" Sam shouted, while blasting away a ghost, one that was a simple blob of green ectoplasm with arms and claws, with her ecto gun. "Geez, _somebody _needs another hobby..."

"Does anyone have any idea where he might be keeping Danny?" Jazz shouted over the noise. "Or are we just supposed to barge into every room we come across to see if he's in there!"

"That was the general plan, yes." Maddie said, smacking away two more ghosts with her ecto sabre. "Unless you have a better idea...?"

"Hey, Maddie, maybe we could get one of these ghosts to tell us!" Jack yelled.

"Yes dear, I'm quite sure the ghosts that are trying to destroy us will tell us everything we want to know. Besides, these are just low level..." Maddie spun around, striking out with the ecto sabre, causing another ghost, a horrible chimera ghost, to fade into oblivion. "...ghosts!" She continued. "They can't even talk, I'll bet! Most likely, they're just cannon fodder to wear us down."

"And unfortunately, it's working..." Sam said, through gritted teeth. "They just keep on coming. I don't think I can see an end anytime..." Sam blinked. The ghosts around them had suddenly stilled, ceasing their attack on Sam and the three Fentons. And just as suddenly as they had stopped, they all vanished.

"...soon?" Sam finished, sounding incredibly confused. "What happened? Did we win or something?"

"I don't know, but I'm getting a really bad feeling about this..." Maddie said cautiously, her eyes sliding across the room, covering every inch of it that was in her range of visibility. "Vlad wouldn't have just stopped attacking us like that... He must have something up his sleeve..." Her eyes continued to survey the room, her muscles tense, ready to strike out at the first out of place thing that she saw.

She was the first one to see Danny emerge from the curve in the stairwell. He was floating close towards the ground, his face obscured partly by his hair.

"Danny!" Jazz shouted, sounding relived. "He must have broken through..." She said, moving towards her brother. She stopped in her tracks though, blinking rapidly. Her mother had thrown an arm up in front of her, blocking her path to her brother. "Mom?" Jazz asked, confused.

"Something's wrong with him..." Maddie said slowly, her other hand gripping her ecto sabre tighter.

"What do you..." Jazz began, then turned her eyes back to Danny. They quickly shot up in shock, her brother had lifted his head, revealing the serpentine-silted tuscan red eye. Jazz blinked, taking an involuntary, confused step backwards. "Danny?"

Danny cast a cold glance over the four of them, assessing their threat level. Of them all, the highest threat was from the aqua jumpsuit-clad woman, the one his master wanted brought to him. The other three were fairly tied, although it seemed to him the one in the orange jumpsuit would get distracted very easily. His eye paused involuntarily on Sam for a few moments before he managed to drag it away from her violet eyes.

"The master has ordered me to destroy you..." Danny said coldly, his voice lacking any form of emotion. He cast his one eye on Maddie. "And take you to him, by force if necessary." He said to her.

"Danny, what are you saying?" Sam began, frowning deeply. She hadn't notice that he was looking at her for slightly longer than any of the others. She just knew that something had gone wrong in her new friend. Something had gone dead wrong.

Danny didn't respond to her question. He was ordered only to respond to Vlad, and to either the names of 326, or Phantom. He didn't know who Danny was.

"I don't think that's our Danny anymore..." Maddie said slowly. "Vlad must have already gotten to him. He must have already preformed the brainwashing." Maddie let out a long, depressed sigh. "We were too late to save him from it..."

"Well what do we do?" Jazz asked, staring at her mother, then back at Danny. He was watching them carefully, like a predator, waiting for the right moment to pounce. "We can't fight him!"

"We have no choice, Jazz. It might sound cruel, but it's the only thing we can do." Maddie said, dropping her arm. "He's lost, and I'm not sure if we can get him back. The least we can do for him is prevent Vlad from using him any further..." She bit her lip, and forced back the tears that were threatening to fall. She couldn't afford to cry right now. The tears would have to wait until later.

No sooner than Maddie had spoken the last sentence, Danny moved from his positron, raising a hand and firing off a blast of crimson-colored ecto energy at those assembled. Maddie's eyes widened, and she grabbed Jazz by the arm, yanking her back and away from the blast. Jack, who had managed to emerge from his shock as well, did similar with Sam, who he was closest to.

Not wasting anytime after firing the blast, Danny flew at head speed into Jack, intercepting his retreat, and delivering a powerful blow to the large man which sent him skidding back into a nearby wall, crashing into it.

Sam stood there, staring at Jack, then slowly turned back around, only to find Danny in her face. The weaponized ghost ducked down quickly, performing a sweep of her feet. Sam screamed, crashing hard into the ground, her ecto gun clattering out of her hands and across the floor. Danny grabbed her by the hair, pulling her upwards. He let her go then, delivering a kick at her abdomen that sent her too, hurtling and crashing into the wall.

Maddie had been in motion since the second the ecto gun had left Sam's hand. She skillfully moved through the rubble caused from the earlier ecto-blast impacting with the floor, and scooped up the gun, aiming it at her brainwashed and deceased son, firing quickly.

The ghost boy straightened out from his kick, only to find himself being shot at. He moved to dodge the shot, but the ecto energy still grazed over his side, nicking off a small piece of his ear, and cutting a tear into his eyepatch. It snapped apart, falling onto the ground, the empty socket with the hole in it staring out at his mother.

After that, he wasted no time in springing up from his position, and flying full force into Maddie. He was fast, and the human woman, though skilled in combat, had no possible way to avoid him. She found herself flying across the room, tumbling over a pile of rubble, hit by a painful punch to her stomach. Her ecto sabre had flown from her hand, colliding with the opposite wall. She coughed, a painful moan escaping from her lips.

Danny paused then, and slowly turned towards Jazz, his tuscan red eye and his empty eye staring at her. There was a bit of ectoplasm trickling down from his wound over his empty eye, but it didn't seem to bother him all that much. Jazz backed up slowly, unsure of what to do. She didn't want to hurt her brother, but she wasn't too keen on the idea of joining him on the other side either.

She tightly gripped her ecto gun and swung it, firing blindly at him. The blast only managed to graze his right arm, opening another wound for the green ectoplasm to leak out of. He looked at it briefly, and then turned to his shaking sister, her hand trembling, unable to believe that she had just shot at her brother, and furthermore terrified by the fact that he didn't express any pain at all when he was wounded this, or the first time.

"D-danny... don't do this please!" She managed to spit out, her voice shuddering. "Please, I know you're still in there somewhere Danny... Please, fight it! Please..." Her eyes widened as she suddenly found herself crumpling down on the ground. Danny stood above her, his hand closed in a fist. She hadn't even seen him move.

"Danny..." She muttered, staring up at him, fear in her eyes. He had hit her hard, and had quite possibly broken one or two ribs. "...please... don't... I'm you're sister..." She said, her voice quavering.

Danny simply stared at her blankly, raising a hand in front of her head, preparing to finish her off with an ecto-blast. He soon found himself, however, being pulled away from her, a glowing blue line wrapped around him. Jack was standing, holding the Fenton Fisher. Danny's eyes narrowed in mild annoyance, though he honestly felt it no more than a weapon might feel it in response to being thwarted.

"Nobody touches Jack Fenton's family, not even Jack Fenton's family!" The large man yelled. He really didn't want to fight Danny, but, like his wife, he saw no other choice. It was better to free him from Vlad's control than to just give in and let him spend the rest of his afterlife as a weapon for some crazed-up fruit loop.

Danny hissed at him, struggling to break free from the Fenton Fisher. When he found that he could not break free with brute strength, nor turn intangible and phase through, he raised a hand to the best of his ability while restrained, and fired off an ecto blast. Since he did not have complete control over aiming with it, it only succeeded in just barely hitting Jack's hand, but that was enough for the Fisher to clatter to the ground. The line around Danny grew limp and fell to the floor around him.

Danny didn't hesitate to pounce, changing position in mid-air to deliver a strong kick to Jack's neck, sending him hurtling into the wall. The large man crashed into it at full force, causing a large dent to form in the wall. The kick had just barely avoided breaking his neck, which would have ended his fighting quickly and permanently. None the less, he was no longer in any condition to do anything to stop him.

"Hey!" He heard a shout from the other side of the room, and he turned around to meet it. Maddie was standing there, having found her lost ecto sabre. "Come on Danny... Don't make this any harder for me than it already is."

The weaponized ghost frowned at her, though blankly. He wasn't quite sure why these people were calling him Danny. The names his master had given him were 326 and Phantom. Not Danny. He pushed the thought aside, focusing once again on what he was made for-combat. His master had told him to be gentle with this one, so he would have to try and simply relive her of consciousness.

This time, Maddie struck first, jumping over a bit of stray rubble and slicing down with the ecto sabre. Danny jumped back, landing in a crouch, cleanly avoiding it. He pulled up from his crouch quickly, using it to help put more momentum into his flight as he hurled himself towards Maddie, grabbing at her arm and smashing her head downwards, into the floor. She was skilled, but he was faster, he knew.

Maddie moaned and slipped into unconsciousness, bleeding. Danny stepped back, admiring his handiwork for a moment. For him, this _was _gentle. Now all that was left was to kill the other three. He frowned then, his eyes narrowing as he came to a disturbing realization.

He hadn't seen the raven-haired teenager for quite some time.

* * *

Sam had managed to pull herself up from the ground she had collapsed on. She looked over at Danny, currently focused on Maddie. She coughed a bit, then cast her eyes around the rest of the room, her eyes falling on the staircase that Danny had emerged from. She turned back to Danny and Maddie briefly, then headed towards the staircase as quickly as her wounded body allowed for. She was clutching a sharp piece of debris that she had found when she had cut her hand against in the process of getting up. Maybe if she could find Vlad, she could find a way to reverse this. She knew that he would most likely be unguarded, confident in his knowledge that no one could slip past Danny.

She reached the top of the staircase and paused for a brief second, to catch her breath. She was in pain all over, but she _had _to keep going. She tucked the debris away into her shirt, hiding it from view. She stumbled into the first room that she saw, looking up.

"How on earth did you...?" Vlad began, stunned at seeing that someone had slipped past Danny's grasp. His eyes narrowed. "Well, aren't you the clever one..." He muttered. "Come to try and stop your friend by stopping me?" He asked in an amused voice. "A nice idea, dear girl, but it won't work. You can barely stand."

Sam's eyes narrowed. "Go to hell, creep." She spat. Here he was. Vlad Masters. The bastard that was in charge of all the horrifying experiments that Danny had undergone. The creep who clearly disregarded any and all human rights, treating Danny as if he was some sort of lab rat. Stealing an innocent baby away from his parents, and trying to make him into a weapon. It made her stomach churn and her skin crawl, just looking at him.

"Oh, such fierce words from such a weak, helpless little girl... Ah, here he is." Vlad said, looking over Sam's head. Danny was standing in the doorway, figuring that the girl had probably gone for his master while he was distracted. The others would have to wait for later, right now he had to focus on protecting his master, his other function, his other purpose.

"I'm weak?" Sam spat out, almost laughing. "At least I can fight my own battles. I don't have to rely on someone else."

Vlad shrugged. "And look how far it's gotten you. Further than the others, granted, but not far enough. And you're unarmed. So really, what can you do now that you've gotten here?"

"You should look more carefully..." Sam said, tugging the debris out. "Normally, I frown upon the taking of human life... But you... you're the one exception." She lunged, but found herself pulled back, caught by Danny, but not before she had managed to slice deeply into Vlad's side.

If she was going to die, then at least she had gotten to wound the sick bastard.

"Dispose of her, 326." Vlad said, glaring hell fury at the gothic girl.

Sam bit her lip, looking up at Danny her, violet eyes meeting with his for what she thought would be the last time. She couldn't even recognize the sweet, though completely naive and clueless boy that she had first met. But she knew that he was buried in there somewhere, terrified of what his body was doing without him there to truly control it.

This wasn't a fairy tale, and Sam didn't expect Danny to snap from Vlad's control. This was reality, and in reality, the endings weren't always happy ones. The slight irony of the situation hit her then. If she had never tried to run away, she would never be here in this situation, not staring death in the face. But not for one moment did she regret her choice. There was no use in regretting the past anymore. It was the right choice, even if it was one that was going to inadvertently lead to her untimely death. She wondered when people would discover her rotting corpse, or if she would just be cremated, her ashes cast to the winds.

She wondered if she would come back as a ghost. She hoped not.

And without meaning too, a single, desperate laugh tumbled from her lips, and tears started to flow down her face. She really, really didn't want to die. She had always thought that she would face death, when it came, with grace and dignity, as her grandmother had. What she hadn't realized though, if her grandmother was still awake as she passed away, she too, would have said that she didn't want to die.

"I don't want to die..." She muttered out slowly, the desperate laughter continuing. Her thought process had only taken a few minutes. "I really don't..."

"326, We don't have all day. There are other things to take care of, other people to destroy, other lives to ruin. Hurry and destroy her, please."

"...no." The word was so quiet, that Vlad didn't even hear it. Sam did though, and the word banished the desperate laughter, banished the tears.

"Excuse me?" Vlad asked.

"I said no." Without another word, Danny raised his hand and fired an ecto blast at Vlad. The blast engulfed him, tearing him apart. A normal human really couldn't stand an ecto blast at full power, not at such a close range.

Danny stumbled back then, clutching his head, moaning. His tuscan red eye flashed a bright green before it shut, and he collapsed on the floor. Sam was left standing in the room, but only for a few seconds. She soon sunk to her knees as well, still slightly in shock.

Reality didn't always have happy endings. But sometimes it did.

It was over.

* * *

AN: Summery for the sequel! Whooops, forgot to put one for the Dangerous Obsessions sequel. Well, any fans of that story can still check it out, it's on my profile.

**Picking up the Pieces: **Seven months after the battle, Jack and Maddie Fenton have finally been able to fully stabilize their son's ghost form, and revive him, by fusing human DNA, a replica of what Danny's would have been while living, and his ectoplasm. Now once again a halfa, Danny has to struggle to catch up on the life that he missed and deal with the guilt of what happened in the lab that day. But Vlad is back from the grave, and he's pissed. And furthermore, Danny's having trouble keeping the side of him that's a weapon contained. So as always, life isn't easy for our favorite ghost boy.


End file.
